Best card for display DVD from HTPC?

[spockware]

Hi!

I understand PVR-350 and some others cannot display non-MPEG formats. I'd like to get rid of my DVD player and just play DVDs through my PC/SageTV and display them on my TV (not PC monitor).

What TV Tuner card do you recommend can do this?

[turak]

You need to hook the TV up to your video card for non mpeg sources. Not a tuner. I use a 6600GT.

[korben_dallas]

http://www.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10460

[spockware]

Originally Posted by turak

You need to hook the TV up to your video card for non mpeg sources. Not a tuner. I use a 6600GT.

Thanks. Sorry, not clear that I wanted TV Tuner card advice, but, I the vcard advice was also great and helped with my follow-up questions.

I really like the idea of an integrated experience, so I don't want to have to go "outside" SageTV to view liveTV, kick-off a regular DVD, surf the web, view photos, etc.

Does SageTV's UI know that when I go to view a recording, it outputs video through the PVR-350 TV-out, yet when I got to play DVD from my DVD-ROM drive, it plays through my vcard?

If not, which TV Tuner card should I buy to allow the integrated experience I am seeking? I just don't want to be short-changed on my SageTV experience becuz I bought the wrong TV tuner card.

[stanger89]

You don't need a new Tuner card. You don't HAVE to use the video output on the 350, you can choose not to and use a video card for everything.

[spockware]

Originally Posted by stanger89

You don't need a new Tuner card. You don't HAVE to use the video output on the 350, you can choose not to and use a video card for everything.

In which case, a PVR-350 would be fine, but overkill. I think a PVR-250 would be better, if just using the vcard for everything.

*** I'm still interested in whether or not the Sage UI can handle managing both hardware setups. That way, a PVR-350 could be used for what it is good for (e.g., TV-out) and the vcard could cover the rest w/o leaving SageTV's UI.

[turak]

If you wanted to use both PVR-350 and Video card then you would have to hook both of them up to the TV. You would then have to switch between them on the TV.

[spockware]

OK. It's a TV-thing, not a SageTV thing. So, no "seamless" experience unless 1 TV-out going to TV. Makes sense. Switching modes from the TV is acceptable, but not ideal.

[turak]

Personally I think the PVR-350 would be too much of an annoyance for me. That's why I bought 2 PVR-250's instead. On my server I'm running component out from my video card (Radeon 9200SE) to the 27" TV in the bedroom. For my 61" DLP TV in the livingroom I'm running DVI from the video card (GeForce 6600GT) to the TV from a client.